Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The political economy of decentralized approaches to rural electrification in Tanzania: Implications for agro-industry co-generation projects

Zakaria, Shamim LU (2016) In IIIEE Masters Theses IMEN56 20161
The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics
Abstract
Based on the context of a developing country, this research engages key identified political-economy aspects that influence the operations and performance of the electricity supply industry in Tanzania. Departing from this political-economy perspective, this paper explores dencentralized approaches to rural electrification through agro-industry co-generation and influencing factors behind the slow pace of cogeneration. Extensive literature review and interviews at government, ministry and ago-industry level provide insights on needed incentives and disincentives to enable up scaling co-generation in the sugar, sisal and rice agro-industries in Tanzania. The research finds that the power sector remains highly influenced by political... (More)
Based on the context of a developing country, this research engages key identified political-economy aspects that influence the operations and performance of the electricity supply industry in Tanzania. Departing from this political-economy perspective, this paper explores dencentralized approaches to rural electrification through agro-industry co-generation and influencing factors behind the slow pace of cogeneration. Extensive literature review and interviews at government, ministry and ago-industry level provide insights on needed incentives and disincentives to enable up scaling co-generation in the sugar, sisal and rice agro-industries in Tanzania. The research finds that the power sector remains highly influenced by political interference in pursuit of state driven agendas and to some extent donor relations. The utility TANESCO remains financially unstable, providing a disincentive for private sector investments needed for decentralized approaches to electrification. Electricity generation remains largely under this fully state-owned utility. This does not paint a hopeful picture for agro-industries that are looking to scale up operations in the context of no clear renewable energy strategy at national level and unclear signals from the government. In the immediate future, gas remains a key priority even with its accompanying uncertainties. Regulations need to be more firm to provide a strong clear signal to agro-industry investors and private sector at large. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Zakaria, Shamim LU
supervisor
organization
course
IMEN56 20161
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
rural electrification, Tanzania, decentralized approaches, political-economy.
publication/series
IIIEE Masters Theses
report number
2016:15
ISSN
1401-9191
language
English
id
8892527
date added to LUP
2016-09-27 11:23:28
date last changed
2016-09-27 11:23:28
@misc{8892527,
  abstract     = {{Based on the context of a developing country, this research engages key identified political-economy aspects that influence the operations and performance of the electricity supply industry in Tanzania. Departing from this political-economy perspective, this paper explores dencentralized approaches to rural electrification through agro-industry co-generation and influencing factors behind the slow pace of cogeneration. Extensive literature review and interviews at government, ministry and ago-industry level provide insights on needed incentives and disincentives to enable up scaling co-generation in the sugar, sisal and rice agro-industries in Tanzania. The research finds that the power sector remains highly influenced by political interference in pursuit of state driven agendas and to some extent donor relations. The utility TANESCO remains financially unstable, providing a disincentive for private sector investments needed for decentralized approaches to electrification. Electricity generation remains largely under this fully state-owned utility. This does not paint a hopeful picture for agro-industries that are looking to scale up operations in the context of no clear renewable energy strategy at national level and unclear signals from the government. In the immediate future, gas remains a key priority even with its accompanying uncertainties. Regulations need to be more firm to provide a strong clear signal to agro-industry investors and private sector at large.}},
  author       = {{Zakaria, Shamim}},
  issn         = {{1401-9191}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{IIIEE Masters Theses}},
  title        = {{The political economy of decentralized approaches to rural electrification in Tanzania: Implications for agro-industry co-generation projects}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}